August 6, 2010WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

I-5 Expansion Planning Continues: The Washington Department of Transportation (WDSOT) has submitted a $3.6 million federal TIGER II planning grant as a result of the Lakewood-managed Interstate 5 transportation study. Lakewood's study developed an operations model for I-5 and the adjacent arterial intersections and found that congestion on I-5 and its interchanges will continue to deteriorate. The study also recommended improvements to several key interchanges. The proposed WSDOT grant would fund additional planning requirements: an Interchange Justification Report (IJR) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). USDOT will issue a decision on the grant request by September 30.

National Night Out A Great Success: City Staff, Council Members, Lakewood Police, Lakewood Fire, and CSRT staff attended 37 events supporting 45 Lakewood neighborhoods for the 2010 National Night Out held on August 3rd. Citizens were provided with information on the recently formed Community Safety Resource Team, as well as packets for children including color books, crayons, stickers and Frisbees. Events were well attended and everyone had a great time gathering with community members.

Adopt-a-Company: Staff from the City Manager's office and Eisenhower & Carlson, PLLC teamed up last fall to adopt the 4-2 Stryker Brigade's headquarters unit. On August 5th, they helped stock and deliver gift baskets and donated new linen for the ninety single soldiers assigned to this unit about to return from Iraq. On a related note, the City of Lakewood will host an Adopt-a-Company social at 5:30pm, Thursday, September 23rd in the council chambers for all the Lakewood area businesses and organizations that have adopted units assigned to the 4th Stryker Brigade "Raiders."

ICMA Board orientation: The city manager was at the ICMA (International City Management Association) office in Washington DC on July 29-30 for the orientation of six newly-elected vice-presidents (boardmembers) from six different regions. All were elected to a three-year term leading the 6,145-member organization of city management professionals from all parts of the country.

Road Closure Update: Scheduled for August 9-13, the 100th Street crossing will be closed for night work at the crossing as part of Sound Transit's rail reconstruction project. The work will include the final asphalt paving of the crossing plus the rail road crossing signal and gate work. The road would be closed at night starting at 7:30 pm and reopened by 5:00 am the following morning for traffic. The City will be tentatively closing the City Hall parking lot August 13-15 and August 20-22, as we will be digging out, patching, sealing and striping the entire lot.

Tillicum Centennial: Monday, August 2nd, Mayor Richardson presented a proclamation to Tillicum neighborhood representatives acknowledging Tillicum's 100th Birthday. The proclamation identifies Saturday August 14th, 2010 as a day to celebrate the Tillicum Centennial in the City of Lakewood and encourages all citizens to participate in centennial events, learn more about the Tillicum neighborhood, and support Tillicum's emerging renaissance. The opening ceremony starts at 11am at Harry Todd Park and the celebration continues until 7pm. All citizens are encouraged to attend and enjoy the food, music, and a variety of activities.

Regional Group presents Interstate 5 Study Findings to TRB: Last week, Senior Planner Dan Penrose was invited to present our area's experience with military mission growth and transportation impacts to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. The committee was formed at the request of Congress to assess congestion on metropolitan road and transit at military base traffic issues. They are expected to issue recommendations to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs in January on federal funding strategies for road and transit improvements. Also attending the meeting were representatives from WSDOT, JBLM, OEA, US Army and the Thurston Regional Planning Council.